The municipal council for the disabled and the youth council have participated in issuing the statement.

Attached are the materials for the statement.

Appendix 1 statement

The Welfare Director will present the matter.

The Welfare Director will present the matter at the meeting.

Appendices 2 survey, 3 summarized responses

Municipal board unanimously approved at its meeting held on August 21, 2023 to launch the preparation of the Western Pirkanmaa employment area and committed to the preparation so that the city of Sastamala would act as the responsible municipality for the employment area.

Municipalities must submit notifications regarding their responsibility for organizing employment services to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy by 31 October 2023 at the latest. These notifications include the municipal agreement on a joint institution (the West Pirkanmaa employment area cooperation agreement), a plan for organizing employment services, and a notification if they do not wish to receive premises. If the notification is not submitted by the deadline, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy will initiate a procedure for forming employment areas by government decision.

The plan for organizing employment services helps the Ministry of Employment and the Economy assess the employment area's conditions for fulfilling the obligations related to organizing responsibility and providing services. The plan will be refined and specified as the preparation progresses.

The notifications submitted must be approved by the competent municipal bodies. For scheduling reasons, they are not required to have legal force.

The employment area of ​​Western Pirkanmaa would consist of the municipality of Hämeenkyrö, the city of Ikaalinen, the municipality of Kihniö, the city of Parkano, the municipality of Punkalaitumen and the city of Sastamala. Sastamala would act as the responsible municipality for the employment area and the employment authority required by law. All municipalities have been actively involved in the preparation of the employment area, and the preparation will continue closely under the leadership of the responsible municipality after the notification has been submitted.

The employment board, to be established within the organization of the city of Sastamala, would serve as the joint institution of the employment area, and would operate under the authority of the Sastamala city council and city government.

When organizing employment services, the operations of the municipalities in the employment area, the demographic structure of the employment area, the customers' need for services, and other circumstances regarding the provision of services are taken into account.

Within the employment area, a responsibility area would be formed from two or more municipalities. The employment board could transfer authority to the municipalities in the employment area or to an individual municipality in the responsibility area for separately defined tasks. The responsibility area would be formed by Parkano and Kihniö and Sastamala and Punkalaitun, with Parkano responsible for Kihniö and Sastamala for Punkalaitun, as agreed upon in the transfer of authority. At least one service point would be established in each municipality or responsibility area for the employment area to handle the tasks transferred from the state.

Employment services would mainly be produced as local services by the municipality or area of ​​responsibility belonging to the employment area to an appropriate extent. Those services that would not be produced as local services would be produced as centralised services either by the municipality of responsibility or another employment area.

According to Section 111 of the Local Government Act, the council must decide on the municipal income tax rate, property tax rates and the bases for other taxes no later than when the budget is approved. The municipality must notify the Tax Board of the income tax rate, with an accuracy of a quarter of a percentage point, no later than 17 November of the year preceding the tax year.

The average income tax rate for municipalities in 2023 is 7,38% and in Pirkanmaa it is 8,06%.

The Kihniö income tax rate for 2006 was increased from 18,75% to 19,25%, which it remained at in 2007. For 2008, it was increased again by 0,50 percentage points, and for 2014, the income tax rate was set at 20,50. For 2015, the income tax rate was increased to 21,50%.

The responsibility for organizing social and health services and rescue services, and thus their costs, were transferred from municipalities to welfare areas. For this reason, the revenues of municipalities were transferred to the state, which finances the operations of welfare areas. For 2023, the municipal income tax rate was calculated by subtracting 12,64 percentage points from the 2022 tax rate. Unlike previous years, the income tax rate was reported with an accuracy of one hundredth of a percentage point. For the coming year, the income tax rate will be reported with an accuracy of one tenth, for example 6,50. The tax rate should be rounded to the nearest tenth. Kihniö's tax rate will change from 8,86 to 8,90. The tax forecast of the Association of Local and Regional Authorities has been calculated accordingly.

According to the tax revenue forecast received from the Association of Local and Regional Authorities, the municipal tax collected in Kihniö this year will amount to €2.497. According to the forecast for 2024, the municipal tax collected will amount to €2.446.000.

According to Section 11 of the Real Estate Tax Act, the council determines the amount of the real estate tax rate annually in advance at the same time as it confirms the income tax rate for the financial year. Real estate tax is a tax paid based on the value of the property, which the municipality in which the property is located receives in full.

The ranges for the lower and upper limits of property tax percentages are as follows:

1.General property tax percentage 0,93 – 2,00

2. Tax percentage for permanent residential buildings 0,41 – 1,00

3. Tax percentage for other residential buildings 0,93 – 2,00

4. Public benefit organizations 0,00 – 2,00

The municipality has the option to levy an increased tax on undeveloped plots of land, the amount of which is 2,00 – 6,00%. The levy of this tax requires that the undeveloped building site meet certain basic requirements in order to be eligible for the tax. The municipality may also impose a tax rate of up to 3,10% on power plant buildings.

Land is usually taxed at the general property tax rate. According to the government program, the lower limit of the land property tax is proposed to be increased to 1,30 percent from the current 0,93 percent. This requires the land property tax rate to be differentiated from the general property tax rate. The upper limit would remain at 2,00 percent. Therefore, separate percentages should be determined for land and general property tax. The impact of the change is approximately 18.000 euros, if the general percentage remains unchanged.

The property tax rates for 2023 were as follows (the figures for the whole country and Pirkanmaa are averages):

The municipality of Kihniö must define a separate property tax percentage for land as a condition, because the law has not yet been approved.

The presidential election will be held in January 2024. The actual election day is Sunday, January 28, 2024, and a possible second election day is Sunday, February 11, 2024. The polling place on the actual election day will be Kihniö Unified School and the advance voting place will be Puumila.

The European Parliament elections will be held in June 2024. The actual election day is Sunday, June 9, 2024. The polling place on the actual election day will be Kihniö Unified School and the advance voting place will be Puumila.

The elections will be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Election Act (714/1998).

Designation of advance voting locations

According to Section 9 of the Election Act, the municipal government decides on the number and location of domestic general advance voting stations in the municipality. Each municipality must have at least one advance voting station, unless special reasons dictate otherwise.

According to Section 47 of the Election Act, a general advance voting station in Finland is open for advance voting on all days of the advance voting period, unless otherwise determined by a decision of the municipal government for special reasons. A special reason can mainly be the estimated low number of voters in a certain area or settlement of the municipality. However, each municipality should have at least one such advance voting station that is open on every day of the period. In addition to such an advance voting station, it is possible to establish advance voting stations in different areas of the municipality that are open for less than seven days.

According to Section 48 of the Election Act, the municipal government also determines the daily opening hours of the advance voting site, however, the advance voting site may not be open on weekdays before 8 am or after 20 pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays before 9 am or after 18 pm.

The municipal government must also designate social welfare units as advance voting locations, where only persons who are being cared for or admitted to them may vote. Advance voting in the institution shall be conducted on at least one and at most two days at times determined by the election committee.

The municipal central election board appoints election officials for advance voting stations. At least two election officials must be present at each advance voting station at the same time.

Determining the polling place on election day

According to Section 9 of the Election Act, each polling district has a polling place designated by decision of the municipal government on election day.

According to Section 8 of the Election Act, a municipality constitutes one voting district, unless it is necessary to divide it into several voting districts. The municipality of Kihniö constitutes one voting district.

Data marking schedule

Information on advance voting locations, information on polling locations on election day and contact information for the Central Election Board (including the address for delivery of the electoral roll) will be entered into the basic information system of the electoral information system - for the presidential elections by Friday, November 3, 2023, by 12 noon - for the European Parliament elections: by Friday, March 22, 2024, by 12 noon

The presidential election will be held on Sunday, January 28, 2024. The actual election day for the possible second round is February 11, 2024, and the election day for the European Parliament elections is June 9, 2024.

Early voting times in the above elections:

Presidential election 17 - 23 January 2024 and possible second round 31 January - 6 February 2024

European Parliament elections 29.5.– 4.6.2024

The municipality of Kihniö forms one voting district.

According to Section 15 of the Election Act, the municipal government must appoint an election board for each voting area and one or more election committees for advance voting conducted at the facility.

Both the members of the electoral board and the electoral committee and their deputies shall, as far as possible, represent the parties registered in the party register in the relevant electoral district that nominated candidates in the previous parliamentary elections. In municipal elections, however, the members and deputies shall represent the voter groups that nominated candidates in the previous municipal elections in the municipality. The deputies of the electoral board and the deputies of the electoral committee shall be appointed in the order in which they replace the members. Both the full members and the deputies shall consist of at least 40% women and men.

The Election Board shall consist of a chairman, a vice-chairman and three other members, as well as the necessary number of deputy members, but not less than three. The Election Committee shall consist of a chairman, a vice-chairman and one other member, as well as the necessary number of deputy members, but not less than three. The deputy members of the Election Board and the Election Committee shall be appointed in the order in which they replace the members. The Election Board and the Election Committee shall have a quorum when they consist of three members.

The main task of the Election Board is to organize the voting on election day in the polling district and to count the votes cast in the polling district.

The task of the Election Committee is to organize early voting in institutions. The work of the Election Committee begins no later than the day of the start of early voting.

Section 15 of the Election Act limits eligibility to the Electoral Board and the Election Commission.

A candidate cannot serve as a member or deputy member of the Election Committee.

A candidate or his/her spouse, children, siblings or parents cannot be a member or deputy member of the election committee.

Spouses refer to married couples and persons living in marriage-like circumstances and registered partnerships.

Eligibility for election to the election board and the election committee is otherwise determined in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act (410/2015) on eligibility for election to the board and committee (section 74). As such, there is no obstacle to electing the same person to the election board and the election committee, as long as the person is eligible for election to both bodies.

It is not recommended that a member or secretary of the Central Election Commission act as any other election authority in addition to their own duties. Since the Central Election Commission verifies advance voting documents in accordance with Section 63 of the Election Act, a member or secretary of the Central Election Commission who has been an election official or member of an election committee would be disqualified from participating in the Central Election Commission's assessment of the legality of their own actions.

The municipal government has appointed the members of the Council for the Elderly and Disabled on September 6, 2021 for the 2021-2025 electoral period. At that time, no representative proposals were received from disability organizations, and they have now requested that the combined Council for the Elderly and Disabled be supplemented in this regard.

The Ikaalisten-Parkano Developmental Disability Support Association, which also includes Kihniö, has nominated Anne-Maria Koivisto from Kihniö as the representative of disability organizations at its meeting on 2 October 2023.

Appendix 4 Minutes of the Ikaalisten-Parkano Developmental Disability Support Association

In accordance with Section 60 of the Local Government Act 410/2015, representatives to the association meeting are elected as follows:

The representative to the association meeting is elected separately for each meeting by the municipal board of the member municipality or another municipal body decided by the council of the member municipality.

The Sataedu association meeting will be held on Thursday, November 23.11rd at 14 pm in Ulvila.

The Sasky association meeting will be held on November 23.11rd at 16 pm at Vammala Vocational School.

The names and email addresses of representatives and alternate representatives are requested to be submitted to the joint municipal registry office at kirjaamo@sasky.fi by November 5, 2023. Representatives of Sataedu at sataedu@sataedu.fi.

The mayor presents and provides information on current issues and events that are pending and in preparation.

The mayor presents the financial situation at the meeting.

According to Section 1 of the Pre-emption Act (5.8.1977/608), a municipality has a right of pre-emption in the sale of real estate located in the municipality in order to acquire land for community development and for recreational and conservation purposes. The right of pre-emption means the municipality's right to redeem the sold real estate for the purchase price agreed upon by the seller and the buyer. When using the pre-emption, the municipality takes the place of the buyer and acquires ownership of the area that is the subject of the sale under the terms of the deed of sale.

The municipality must also compensate the buyer for direct costs related to the transaction and pay interest on the costs in accordance with Section 3, Subsection 2 of the Interest Act (633/1982). According to Section 21 of the Pre-emption Act, the city government decides on the exercise of the pre-emption right. The decision must be made and the registration authority, i.e. the Land Survey, notified of it within three months of the certification of the transfer deed.

The decision must be given without delay as a demonstrable notification to the buyer and seller.

Attached material: property transfer list

Real estate transfer notices:

5 property transfer notices

Decisions of municipal office holders:

Municipal Mayor Section 19

Director of Finance and Administration Section 43

Financial Manager § -

Education and Welfare Board 18.10.2023

§ 74 Legality and quorum of the meeting

§ 75 Selection of the minutes inspectors

§ 76 Statement on the Pirkanmaa welfare region's welfare report and plan 2023–2026

Council for the Elderly and Disabled 18.9.2023

Youth Council 12.10.2023